Printing system wherein printer connected to one computer is managed by another computer over a network

ABSTRACT

A printing system includes a network, a first computer connected to the network, a second computer connected to the network, and a printer connected to the network. The first computer instructs the printer to print. The printer includes a printer controller and a printer engine. The printer controller includes an individual printer management part for managing the printer, and an individual printer information DB part. The second computer includes a total printer management service processing part for managing a plurality of printers including the printer connected to the network, and a total printer management information DB part. The second computer communicates with the printer controller and/or the first computer over the network to manage the printer to cope with trouble in the printer, order consumable items and replacement parts for the printer, and update programs and data for using the printer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/161,419 filed on Sep. 24, 1998, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a printing system for performingprinting using a computer, such as a personal computer, a workstation,or the like.

[0003] In a conventional printing system, the information to be printed,which is composed by a computer, is printed by transmitting theinformation to a printer, and the printer then carries out the printingitself.

[0004] However, since a printer manufacturer cannot be aware at alltimes of the operating state of a printer being used by a user, thereare the following problems in the usability of the printer.

[0005] (1) When a user wants to know how to cope with a problem in hisor her printer or wants to know about an advanced method of using theprinter, he or she typically needs to make an inquiry to the customerservice center of the printer manufacturer by telephone, which requiresthe expenditure of time and money. There sometimes occurs a problem inthat, when the user makes such a telephone call, the telephone lines ofthe printer manufacturer are busy or the user is unable to communicatewith an appropriate person in the service center for inquiry concerninga particular problem.

[0006] (2) It is difficult for the user to understand all of the typesof the various kinds of consumable articles (various kinds of paper,toner, and so on) available for use in a complex printer, such as alaser printer, and to properly place an order for and obtain the variouskinds of consumable articles required by the printer. It is possible toemploy a service man dedicated to the servicing of the printer in orderto solve a particular difficulty, but the cost for the services of theservice man is not insignificant, and accordingly, to provide suchservices, the user is subjected to an increase in the cost ofmaintenance of the printer and the printer manufacturer is subjected toan increase in personnel expenses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] An object of the present invention is to solve the problemsdiscussed above and to provide a printing system having a goodusability. In order to attain this object and solve the problemsdescribed above, the present invention employs the following features.

[0008] A first printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, theprinter controller having an individual printer management part formanaging the printer and an individual printer information DB part; andthe second computer has a total printer management service processingpart for managing a plurality of printers including the printerconnected to the network and a total printer management information DBpart. In the operation of this system, the printer controller receivesinformation on occurrence of trouble in the printer engine and adescription of the trouble; and, based on the received information, thefirst computer is sent information on the occurrence of trouble in theprinter engine and a description of the trouble from the printercontroller. In response to the first computer inquiring as to a methodof coping with the trouble indicated by the printer controller, theprinter controller transmits the contents of the inquiry to the secondcomputer. Then, the total printer management service processing part ofthe second computer retrieves a reply to the inquiry from the totalprinter management information DB part, and transmits the reply to theprinter. The printer then transmits the reply to the first computer.

[0009] A second printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, theprinter controller having an individual printer management part formanaging the printer and an individual printer information DB part; andthe second computer has a total printer management service processingpart for managing a plurality of printers including the printerconnected to the network and a total printer management information DBpart. In the operation of this system, the printer controller receivesinformation concerning the status of consumable articles in the printerengine, and stores the information in the individual printer informationDB part. Based on the contents of the individual printer information DBpart, the first computer receives information on a shortage ofconsumable articles in the printer engine from the printer controllerand places an order for the consumable articles to the printercontroller. The printer controller transmits the contents of the orderto the second computer; and the total printer management serviceprocessing part of the second computer performs processing to accept theorder by making access to and writing in the total printer managementinformation DB part. Then information on completion of the order andaccompanying information is transmitted to the printer. The printer thentransmits the information on completion of the order and theaccompanying information to the first computer.

[0010] A third printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, theprinter controller having an individual printer management part formanaging the printer and an individual printer information DB part; andthe second computer has a total printer management service processingpart for managing a plurality of printers including the printerconnected to the network and a total printer management information DBpart. In the operation of this system, the printer controller receivesinformation concerning the operating status of the printer engine, andstores the information in the individual printer information DB part.Based on the contents of the individual printer information DB part ofthe printer controller, the total printer management service processingpart in the second computer collects the information concerning theoperating status of the printer engine; and, based on the collectedinformation, the total printer management service processing part in thesecond computer proposes the replacement of a part to the printercontroller. The printer controller then transmits the part replacementproposal to the first computer. Based on the transmitted partreplacement proposal, the first computer issues information for orderingthe replacement part to the printer controller. The printer controllertransmits the received information for ordering the replacement part tothe second computer. The second computer receives the information forordering the replacement part; and the total printer management serviceprocessing part of the second computer executes processing foracceptance of the order.

[0011] The third printing system in accordance with the presentinvention is further characterized by the fact that the total printermanagement service processing part in the second computer performsacceptance processing of an order, and then transmits information oncompletion of acceptance of the order and accompanying information tothe printer controller. The printer controller then transmits theinformation on completion of acceptance of the order and theaccompanying information to the first computer.

[0012] A fourth printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, anupdated program and data for the printer controller being registered andstored in the second computer. In the operation of this system, thesecond computer transmits information for proposing updating of aprogram and data of the printer to the printer controller; and theprinter controller transmits the proposal information to the firstcomputer. The first computer transmits updating request information forrequesting an update of the program and the data to the printercontroller; and the printer controller transmits the updating requestinformation to the second computer. The second computer reads therequested program and the requested data, and then transmits therequested program and the requested data to the printer controller. Theprinter controller receives and stores the program and the data, andthen transmits updating completion information concerning the programand the data to the first computer. The first computer notifies a userof completion of updating by displaying updating completion informationon a screen using a user interface. The user of the first computer,having been notified of the completion of updating by the updatingcompletion information, transmits a document to the printer; and theprinter then performs printing of the document using the updated programand the updated data.

[0013] A fifth printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, anupdated program and updated data for the first computer being registeredand stored in the second computer. In the operation of this system, thesecond computer transmits information for proposing updating of aprogram and data for the first computer to the printer controller. Theprinter controller then transmits the proposal information to the firstcomputer. The first computer then transmits updating request informationfor requesting an update of the program and the data for the firstcomputer to the printer controller; and the printer controller transmitsthe updating request information to the second computer. The secondcomputer reads the requested program and the requested data, and thentransmits the requested program and the requested data to the printercontroller. The printer controller receives and stores the program andthe data, and transmits the program and the data to the first computer.The first computer receives and stores the program and the data for thefirst computer and then notifies a user of completion of updating bydisplaying updating completion information on a screen using a userinterface. The user of the first computer, having been notified of thecompletion of updating by the updating completion information, instructsthe printer to print using the updated program and the updated data.

[0014] A sixth printing system in accordance with the present inventionis characterized by a printing system which comprises a network, and afirst computer, a second computer, and a printer connected to thenetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print. Theprinter is composed of a printer controller and a printer engine, anupdated program and data for the first computer being registered andstored in the second computer. In the operation of this system, thesecond computer transmits information for proposing updating of aprogram and data for the first computer to the first computer; and thefirst computer transmits updating request information for requesting anupdate of the program and the data for the first computer to the secondcomputer. The second computer reads the requested program and therequested data, and then transmits the requested program and therequested data to the first computer. The first computer receives andstores the program and the data for the first computer and then notifiesa user of completion of updating by displaying updating completioninformation on a screen using a user interface. The user of the firstcomputer, having been notified of the completion of updating by theupdating completion information, instructs the printer to print usingthe updated program and the updated data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing system in accordance withthe present invention.

[0016]FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a software method of aprinter in accordance with the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a software method of afirst computer in accordance with the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a software method of asecond computer in accordance with the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the hardware construction of thefirst computer and the second computer in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0020]FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the hardware construction of aprinter in accordance with the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining a first embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

[0022]FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining a second embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

[0023]FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a third embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

[0024]FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the individual printerinformation DB part in accordance with the present invention.

[0025]FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the total printer informationDB part in accordance with the present invention.

[0026]FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the total printer informationDB part in accordance with the present invention.

[0027]FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

[0028]FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining a software method of asecond computer in accordance with the present invention.

[0029]FIG. 15 is a block diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

[0030]FIG. 16 is a block diagram for explaining a sixth embodiment of aprocessing procedure in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] Various embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail below.

[0032] Initially, the overall construction of the printing system willbe described, referring to FIG. 1.

[0033] The printing system is composed of a first network 110, a secondnetwork 120, a first computer 300, and a printer 200 connected to thefirst network 110, and a second computer 400 connected to the secondnetwork 120.

[0034] It is assumed that the first network 110 is installed in an areausable for each user (hereinafter referred to as an area for each user1001) where the printer 200 is used, and the second network 120 isinstalled in a service center of a manufacturer of the printer 200(hereinafter referred to as a manufacturer service center 1002).Further, although each user or each company of users has a plurality ofsystems composed of the first network 110 and the first computer 300 andthe printer 200, only one of the systems is shown in FIG. 1 for makingit easy to understand the user environment, but this is not a necessarycondition for the present invention.

[0035] The first network 110 and the second network 120 are connected toeach other using inter-network mutual connection technology (router orinternet/intranet technology), so that the machines (computers andprinters) connected to the first network 110 and the second network 120can mutually communicate with each other. However, in order to make thesystem simpler, the first network 110 and the second network 120 may beconstructed as one network.

[0036] The first computer 300 instructs the printer 200 to print adocument composed by an application program 3140 using a printer logicdriver 3130, which is to be described later in conjunction with FIG. 3.

[0037] The printer 200 has a printer controller 2100 and a printerengine 2200, and the printer controller has an individual printermanagement part 2120 and an individual printer information DB part 2121in order to manage the printer. The construction of the printer 200 willbe described in detail later with reference to FIG. 2.

[0038] The second computer 400 has a total printer management serviceprocessing part 4120 and a total printer management information DB part4130 in order to manage a plurality of printers including the printer200. The construction of the second computer 400 will be described indetail later with reference to FIG. 4.

[0039] The construction of the printer will now be described in detail,referring to FIG. 2.

[0040] As described above, the printer 200 has the printer controller2100 and the printer engine 2200, and the printer controller has theindividual printer management part 2120 and the individual printerinformation DB part 2121 in order to manage the printer. The individualprinter information DB part 2121 stores the information shown in FIG. 10as an operating status of the printer engine 2200.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 10, register information 10A, printer operationinformation 10B, use information on each consumable article 10C,operation information on each part 10D, and other information 10E inregard to the printer 200 are stored in the DB part 2121. Each item ofinformation 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E is constructed as described inFIG. 10. In a case where the printer engine is of an electrophotographictype using a laser optical system, paper (on a size-by-size basis),toner, the photosensitive drum, cleaner, and so on are managed asconsumable articles, and the printer controller, optical system parts(semiconductor laser, polygon mirror and so on), the fixing unit, and soon are managed as replaceable parts.

[0042] Sigh The individual printer management part 2120 manages theprinting status of the printer engine 2200 while making access to thecontents of the individual printer information DB part 2121. Theindividual printer management part 2120 performs referring,writing/updating, retrieving, and the like operations as an access.

[0043] Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the printer controller 2100 has afirst communication part 2110, a spool control part 2130, a printprocessing part 2140, and an engine control part 2150. The printprocessing part 2140 has a drawing part 2141 and a print instructionpart 2142.

[0044] The first communication part 2110 is composed of hardware andsoftware with which the printer 200 communicates with the variousmachines (computer, printer, and the like) on the first network 110 andon the second network 120 through the first network 110.

[0045] The spool control part 2130 receives and stores a printinstruction for a document composed by the first computer 300 as a job,and sequentially outputs it to the print processing part 2140. The spoolcontrol part 2130 can store a plurality of jobs together. Further, it ispossible to instruct the spool control part 2130 to perform a statereference, such as a print waiting order, presence or absence ofoccurrence of trouble and the identification thereof, and so on, andspool control, such as a change in sequential order, a deletingoperation, and so on from the first computer 300 or the printercontroller 2100.

[0046] The print processing part 2140 receives jobs from the spoolcontrol part 2130 one by one, and outputs them to the engine controlpart 2150 after a series of jobs is performed by the drawing part 2141and the print instruction part 2142. The spool control part 2130receives a job for a document in the form of a print command sequenceand page description language which the printer 200 can accept andprint, and the job is transmitted to the drawing part 2141. Thedescribed contents are constructed of different kinds of media, such astext, image, graphics, and the like. After translating the received jobaccording to the document description, the drawing part 2141 expands thedocument description into dots, and converts them into bit map data tobe written in a memory called a page buffer memory (not shown). Theprint instruction part 2142 instructs the engine control part 2150 toprint the contents of the page buffer memory using the printer engine2200. The engine control part 2150 sequentially outputs the contents ofthe page buffer memory to the printer engine 2200, and the printerengine 2200 physically prints the contents onto a sheet of paper using aprinter mechanism. As to the operation of the printer mechanism, thereare various printing method, such as a photographic method using a laseroptical system, a photographic method using an LED, a photographicmethod using a liquid crystal shutter, an ink jet method, a shuttle typeimpact method, and so on.

[0047] The construction of the first computer 300 will now be describedin detail, referring to FIG. 3.

[0048] The first computer 300 is composed of a second communication part3110, a first OS kernel part 3120, a printer logic driver 3130, anapplication program part 3140, a spool control instruction part 3150,and a printer management reference/instruction part 3160.

[0049] The second communication part 3110 is composed of hardware andsoftware with which the first computer 300 communicates with the variousmachines (computer, printer, and the like) on the first network 110 andon the second network 120 through the first network 110.

[0050] The first OS kernel part 3120 is basic software (also called anoperating system) for controlling the hardware, the user interface, andso on composing the first computer 300. The second communication part3110 can be regarded as a part of the first OS kernel part 3120, but isdescribed as a different element in order to provide a clearerdescription.

[0051] The application program part 3140 is composed of programs, suchas a word processing program, a table-calculation program, a graphicsprogram, and so on, which are used to form a document and produce aninstruction to print the formed document using the printer 200.

[0052] The printer logic driver part 3130 converts the document formedin the application program part 3140 into a document in the form of aprint command sequence and page description language which the printer200 can accept and print, and transmits the converted document to theprinter 200 through the first OS kernel part 3120 and the secondcommunication part 3110.

[0053] The spool control instruction part 3150 is, as described above,used in the first computer 300 to instruct the spool control part 2130in the printer 200 to perform a state reference, such as print waitingorder, presence or absence of occurrence of trouble and theidentification thereof, and so on, and spool control, such as a changein the sequential order, a deleting operation, and so on.

[0054] The printer management reference/instruction part 3160 is used inthe first computer 300 to instruct the individual printer managementpart 2120 to refer to the contents of the individual printer informationDB part 2121 and to perform printer management processing.

[0055] The construction of the second computer 400 will now be describedin detail, referring to FIG. 4.

[0056] The second computer 400 is composed of a third communication part4110, a second OS kernel part 4140, a total printer management serviceprocessing part 4120, and a total printer management information DB part4130.

[0057] The third communication part 4110 is composed of hardware andsoftware with which the second computer 400 communicates with thevarious machines (computer, printer, and the like) on the second network120 and on the first network 110 through the second network 120.

[0058] The second OS kernel part 4140 is basic software (also called anoperating system) for controlling the hardware, the user interface, andso on composing the second computer 400. The third communication part4110 can be regarded as a part of the second OS kernel part 4140, but isdescribed as a different element in order to provide a clearerdescription.

[0059] The total printer management information DB part 4130 is a partin which the manufacturer of the printer 200 concentratively storesoperation status information for the printers sold by the manufactureras part of the service center of the manufacturer.

[0060] In the total printer management information DB part 4130, thecontents shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are stored. As shown in FIG. 11,the total printer management information DB part 4130 stores managementinformation for all printers managed by the second computer 400, thatis, printer 1 management information 1101, printer 2 managementinformation 1102, . . . , printer n management information 1103, . . . ,printer N management information 1104. In regard to, for example, theprinter n management information 1103, as shown in FIG. 12, registerinformation 12A, printer operation information 12B, use information oneach consumable article 12C, operation information on each part 12D, andother information 12E in regard to the printer n are stored. Each itemof the information 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, and 12E is constructed as thecontents described in FIG. 12. In a case where the printer engine is ofan electrophotographic type, using a laser optical system, paper (on asize-by-size basis), toner, the photosensitive drum, cleaner, and so onare managed as consumable articles, and the printer controller, opticalsystem parts (semiconductor laser, polygon mirror and so on), the fixingunit, and so on are managed as replaceable parts.

[0061] The total printer management service processing part 4120 managesthe printing statuses of the plurality of printers sold by themanufacturer while making access to the total printer management DB part4130. The total printer management service processing part 4120 includesa reference part 4121, a write/update part 4122, a retrieval part 4123,and so on, and performs referring, writing/updating, and retrievingoperations relative to the total printer management DB part 4130 usingeach of the reference part 4121, the write/update part 4122, and theretrieval part 4123.

[0062] The hardware construction of the machines which make up theprinting system will now be described, referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

[0063] Each of the first computer 300 and the second computer 400 is anapparatus which is composed of an MPU 500, a system bus 501, a ROMmemory 510, a RAM memory 511, a keyboard 521, a mouse 522, a diskcontroller 531, a secondary memory unit 532, a display controller 541, adisplay 542, a network controller 550, and a printer adapter 560.

[0064] The system bus 501 carries various kinds of input and outputsignals (address signals, data signals, and other control signals) ofthe MPU 500. The MPU 500 performs input and output operations withreference to the peripheral devices, such as the keyboard 521, thesecondary memory unit 532, the display 542, the network 110, and so on,and with memories, such as the ROM memory 510, the RAM memory 511, andso on. The keyboard 521 is an input device composed of a plurality ofinput keys, and has the mouse 522 as a kind of pointing device connectedthereto. The secondary memory unit 532 is connected to the system bus501 through the disk controller 531, and the display 542 is connected tothe system bus 501 through the display controller 541. The system bus ofthis apparatus is further connected to the network 110, such as a LAN ora WAN, through the network controller 550, and connected to a printerthrough the printer adapter 560 and a cable.

[0065] The hardware of the printer 200 will now be described, referringto FIG. 6.

[0066] The printer 200 is composed of the printer controller 2100 andthe printer engine 2200. The printer controller 2100 is composed of anMPU bus 601, an I/F part 602, an MPU 603, a ROM memory 604, a secondarymemory unit 605, a user operating panel 607, a sub-MPU 606, a printermemory controller 609, and a RAM memory 60A.

[0067] The MPU bus 601 carries various kinds of input and output signals(address signals, data signals, and other control signals) of the MPU603. The MPU 603 performs input and output operations relative to theperipheral controllers such as 602, 606, 609 and the memory devices suchas 604, 60A, 605 through the MPU bus 601.

[0068] The interface part 602 (hereinafter, interface is abbreviated asI/F) is a controller for effecting communication by the printer with thevarious kinds of machines via a cable, such as the first computer 300,the second computer 400, and so on. Physical I/Fs usable as the I/F part602 are Ethernet, Token-Ring, FDDI (fiber distributed data interface),ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), and ISDN (integrated services digitalnetwork), and hardware logic appropriate for the I/F part 602 isinstalled depending on the physical I/F used.

[0069] The ROM memory 604 stores an initial boot-up program (also calledan IPL (initial program loading) program) for the printer controller2100 and part of a character font.

[0070] The RAM memory 60A stores (a) a printer controller controlprogram, (b) the remainder of the character font, (c) a command buffermemory, (d) a page buffer memory, and (e) various kinds of managementtables, such as a page buffer management table and a printer managementtable, and others. Among these, the programs (a) and (b) are stored bydownloading from any one of the computers 300 or 400 using the IPLprogram described above. It is possible that the programs (a) and (b)are not stored in the RAM memory 60A, but are stored in the ROM memory604 in advance. On the other hand, the character font need not be storedin the ROM memory 604 at all, since all of the character font may bestored in the RAM memory 60A.

[0071] The sub-MPU 606 performs input and output processing with theuser operating panel 607 or the printer engine 2200 according to aninstruction from the MPU 603.

[0072] The printer memory controller 609 performs read-out processingwith respect to the contents of the RAM memory 60A (normally contents ofthe page buffer part) to the printer engine 2200, and performs DRAMmemory control (refresh) when the RAM memory 60A is a DRAM. The read-outprocessing is performed using an installed DMA (direct memory access)function. At the time when read-out of a one-page volume of data fromthe page buffer part is completed, the printer memory controller 609asserts an interruption signal (one of the signals on the MPU bus 601)to the MPU 603 to start interruption processing for termination of apage buffer read-out operation by the MPU 603.

[0073] The printer controller 2100 communicates with the printer engine2200 using the sub-MPU 606 through a signal line 600C-1, and using theprinter memory controller 609 through a signal line 600C-2 according toan I/F, called a printer engine I/F.

[0074] In a case where the printer engine is a shuttle printer, theprinter memory controller 609 performs format transformation of thecontents of the page buffer, and then outputs the transformed contentsto the printer engine using the signal line 600C-2. In a case where theprinter engine is a laser printer, the printer memory controller 609performs parallel-serial transformation of the contents of the pagebuffer, and then outputs the transformed contents to the printer engineusing the signal line 600C-1.

[0075] In a case where the printer engine is a shuttle printer, thesignal line 600C-1 is used to receive signals for indicating a firstposition on a page from the printer engine. In a case where the printerengine is a laser printer, the signal line 600C-1 is used by the sub-MPU606 to transmit a command for inquiring or instructing to the printerengine 2200 and to transmit a command for receiving a reply status fromthe printer engine, and status transmitting and receiving signals, and acontrol signal for controlling the procedure for reading the contents ofthe page buffer to the printer engine. It is possible to omit thesub-MPU 606 and allow the MPU 603 to perform the processing function ofthe sub-MPU 606.

[0076] The above-described system is common to all the followingembodiments.

[0077] A first embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 7.

[0078] Initially, the printer engine 2200 detects the occurrence oftrouble. Examples of the troubles considered are shortage of consumablearticles, such as paper, toner, and so on, a paper jam, an open door, aloss of printer power, a failure in the fixing unit, a failure in theoptical system, a failure in the printing system, and so on.

[0079] The printer controller 2120 receives information on theoccurrence of trouble in the printer engine 2200 and the contentsthereof (process 701). As the receiving method, there are a method inwhich the printer engine 2200 actively reports to the printer controller2100 and a method in which the printer controller 2100 periodicallymonitors the status of the printer engine 2200. Either of the methodsmay be employed, or both of them may be used together.

[0080] Then, the first computer 300 receives information on theoccurrence of trouble in the printer engine 2200 and the identificationof the trouble from the printer controller 2100 (process 702). As thereceiving method, there are a method in which the printer controller2100 actively reports to the first computer 300 and a method in whichthe first computer 300 periodically monitors the status of the printercontroller 2100. Either of the methods may be employed, or both of themmay be used together.

[0081] Then, the first computer 300 issues an inquiry to the printercontroller 2100 as to a method of coping with the trouble (process 703).The inquiry is issued using the user interface of the first computer 300when the first computer 300 is informed of the occurrence of thetrouble.

[0082] After that, the printer controller 2100 transmits the contents ofthe inquiry to the second computer 400 (process 706). The action of theprocess 706 is called inquiry forwarding. It also may be referred to asan agent inquiry.

[0083] Next, the total printer management service processing part 4120of the second computer 400 obtains a reply to the inquiry by retrievingand referring to the contents of the total printer managementinformation DB part 4130 (process 705). Then, the total printermanagement service processing part 4120 transmits the reply to theprinter controller 2100 in the printer 200 (process 704). The action ofthe process 704 is called replying. It is also known as an agent reply.

[0084] Then, the printer controller 2100 forwards the received reply tothe first computer 300 (process 707). The action of the process 707 iscalled reply forwarding. It also may be referred to as a formal reply.The first computer 300 displays the reply on a screen using the userinterface to show the reply to the inquiry to the user which has issuedthe inquiry.

[0085] In the above description, the user makes an inquiry as to amethod of coping with the printer trouble using the first computer 300,but another kind of inquiry can be used similarly to obtain a reply. Forexample, in a case of a highly functional printer having a scannerfunction, a FAX transmitting and receiving function, a multi-papersupplier, a multi-paper discharger, and so on, it is possible to make aninquiry on a method of using the printer and obtain a reply to theinquiry. As an example of the multi-paper discharger, inquiries can bemade concerning a multi-sorter, a mail box, or the like.

[0086] According to the first embodiment, when a user wants to knowabout a method of coping with printer trouble or an advanced method ofusing a printer, the user can automatically access the data base in aservice center of the printer manufacturer and obtain a reply to theinquiry on the computer simply by sending an inquiry to a printer athand through the computer at hand usually used by the user. Therefore, aproblem in the conventional technology can be solved and the usabilityof the printer can be improved.

[0087] A second embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 8.

[0088] The printer engine 2200 monitors and stores the status ofconsumable articles used in printing while performing printingprocessing. In a case where the printer mechanism is of anelectrophotographic type, the consumable articles are paper, toner, thephotosensitive drum, cleaner, and so on. In a case where the printermechanism is of an ink jet type, the consumable articles are paper andink. In a case where the printer mechanism is of the shuttle impacttype, the consumable articles are paper and a ribbon.

[0089] The printer controller 2100 receives a signal indicating thestatus of consumable articles in the printer engine, and stores thestatus of consumable articles in the individual printer information DBpart (process 801). As the receiving method, there are a method in whichthe printer engine 2200 actively reports to the printer controller 2100and a method in which the printer controller 2100 periodically monitorsthe status of the printer engine 2200. Either of the methods may beemployed, or both of them may be used together.

[0090] Then, based on the contents of the individual printer informationDB part 2121 in the printer controller 2100, the first computer 300receives information indicating a shortage of consumable articles in theprinter engine 2200 from the printer controller 2100 (process 802). Asthe receiving method, there are a method in which the printer controller2100 actively reports to the first computer 300 and a method in whichthe first computer 300 periodically monitors the status of the printercontroller 2100. Either of the methods may be employed, or both of themmay be used together.

[0091] Then, the first computer 300 places an order for the consumablearticles which are in short supply to the printer controller 2100(process 803). The order is placed using the user interface of the firstcomputer 300 when the first computer 300 is informed of the shortage ofthe consumable articles.

[0092] Then, the printer controller 2100 forwards the order to thesecond computer 400 (process 806).

[0093] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120in the second computer 400 performs processing to accept the order bymaking access to the total printer management information DB part 4130to write the order in the total printer management information DB part4130 (process 805).

[0094] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120transmits information on the completion of acceptance of the order andthe accompanying information to the printer controller 2100 in theprinter 200 (process 804). As the accompanying information, the articlename, price, appointed date of delivery, and so on are described.

[0095] After that, the printer controller 2100 forwards the informationon the completion of acceptance of the order and the accompanyinginformation to the first computer 300 (process 807). The first computer300 displays the information on the completion of acceptance of theorder and the accompanying information on a screen of a display tonotify the user placing the order concerning the received information.

[0096] In the above description, the user places the order for theconsumable articles to the first computer 300, but other kinds of ordersand requests can be made. For example, it is possible to make a requestto replace an article which is in trouble or is almost reaching the endof its lifetime. Parts which need to be replaced are the printercontroller, optical system parts, the fixing unit, and so on.

[0097] According to the second embodiment, even if the user does notunderstand the status of use of various kinds of consumable articles fora complex printer represented by a laser printer, the printing systemautomatically understands the status of use of various kinds ofconsumable articles and the user can place an order based on suchinformation to the service center of the printer manufacturer.Therefore, a problem in the conventional technology can be solved andthe usability of the printer can be improved. Since there is no need todispatch a service man dedicated to the printer from the printermanufacturer to the place of the user for this purpose, it is possiblefor the user to reduce the cost of maintenance, and for the printermanufacturer to reduce personnel expenses.

[0098] A third embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 9.

[0099] The printer engine 2200 monitors and stores the operating statusof printing while performing printing processing. In regard to theoperating status, the period of use, the spent quantity, the remainingquantity, and the occurrence of a shortage in each of the consumablearticles, the preceding exchanged time, average lifetime, period of use,number of occurrence of troubles and failures, history of occurrence oftroubles and failures, and so on are monitored. These conditions relateto the contents shown in FIG. 10.

[0100] The printer controller 2100 receives information on the operatingstatus (hereinafter, referred to simply as operating status information)of the printer engine 2200, and stores the information in the individualprinter information DB part (process 901). The contents stored are theinformation 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E of FIG. 10. As the receiving method,there are a method in which the printer engine 2200 actively reports tothe printer controller 2100 and a method in which the printer controller2100 periodically monitors the status of the printer engine 2200. Eitherof the methods may be employed, or both of them may be used together.

[0101] Then, based on the contents of the individual printer informationDB part 2121 in the printer controller 2100, the second computer 400receives the operating status information in the printer from theprinter controller 2100 (process 902). As the receiving method, thereare a method in which the printer controller 2100 actively reports tothe second computer 400 and a method in which the second computer 400periodically monitors the status of the printer controller 2100. Eitherof the methods may be employed, or both of them may be used together.

[0102] Then, the second computer 400 proposes replacement of a partwhich is in need of replacement to the printer controller 2100 (process903). The proposal is made using the user interface of the secondcomputer 400, by a person responsible for user service at the printermanufacturer who knows the replacement time of the part, using thesecond computer 400.

[0103] The printer controller 2100 forwards the contents of the proposalto the first computer 300 (process 904).

[0104] Then, the first computer 300 transmits information concerning anorder for the replacement part to the printer controller 2100 in orderto place an order for the part which is in its replacement time (process905). The order is placed at the time when the user of the firstcomputer 300 finds the proposal information corresponding to theinformation of the process 904 on a screen of the first computer 300 orthe like. Then, the printer controller 2100 forwards the contents of theorder to the second computer 400 (process 906).

[0105] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120in the second computer 400 performs processing to accept the order bymaking access to the total printer management information DB part 4130to write the order in the total printer management information DB part4130 (process 907). Then, the total printer management serviceprocessing part 4120 transmits information on completion of acceptanceof the order and the accompanying information to the printer controller2100 in the printer 200 (process 908). The accompanying informationincludes the name of the article, the price, the appointed date ofdelivery, and so on.

[0106] After that, the printer controller 2100 forwards the informationon the completion of acceptance of the order and the accompanyinginformation to the first computer 300 (process 909). The first computer300 displays the information on the completion of acceptance of theorder and the accompanying information on a screen of the display usingthe user interface to notify the user placing the order concerning thereceived information.

[0107] The same result can be obtained even if the above procedure ischanged as follows.

[0108] (1) Although the second computer 400 proposes the replacement ofa part to the user of the first computer 300 through the printercontroller 2100 in this embodiment, the second computer 400 may send theproposal for replacement of the part directly to the user of the firstcomputer 300.

[0109] (2) By eliminating the processes after the process 903, the partmay be replaced simply by having a service man of the printermanufacturer come to the place of the user where the printer 200 isinstalled to voluntarily replace the part.

[0110] According to the third embodiment, even if the user does notunderstand the status of use and the operating status of various kindsof parts which periodically need replacing in a complex printerrepresented by a laser printer, the printing system automaticallyunderstands the status of use and so an order can be placed to theservice center of the printer manufacturer based on such information.Therefore, a problem in the conventional technology can be solved andthe usability of the printer can be improved. Since there is no need todispatch a service man dedicated to servicing the printer from theprinter manufacturer to the place of the user, it is possible for theuser to reduce the maintenance cost, and for the printer manufacture toreduce the personnel expenses.

[0111] A fourth embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 13 and FIG. 2, FIG.3, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 14.

[0112] It is assumed that the printer manufacturer has updated programsand data for the printer controller used in the printer 200. Forexample, programs for the printer controller may have been updated toimprove printing performance of the printer controller, and/or to add orchange a printing function (color printing function, middle toneprinting function, or compressed image data printing function) of theprinter controller. Further, as the data for the printer controller, asolid black pattern, a line pattern, font data, and so on may have beenadded or changed. In such a case, the printer manufacturer registers andstores updated programs and updated data in the second computer 400which manages all of the printers of the manufacturer (process 1301).

[0113] Then, the second computer 400 transmits information for proposingupdating of the programs and the data for the printer 200 to the printercontroller 2100 (process 1302). The information includes an explanationof the contents of the updating and a recommendation for accepting theupdating, and a method of requesting the updating. Most of the programsand data for the printer 200 are programs and data for the printercontroller 2100. Although the following descriptions are limited tocases of programs and data for the printer controller, the same resultcan be attained in a case of programs and data for the printer engine2200. Then, the printer controller 2100 transmits the contents of theproposal to the first computer 300 (process 1303).

[0114] Then, the first computer 300 transmits information concerning therequest for updating to the printer controller 2100 in order to requestupdating of the programs and the data (process 1304). The request ismade at the time when the user of the first computer 300 finds theinformation concerning the proposed updating corresponding to theinformation of the process 1303 on a screen of the first computer 300 orthe like. Then, the printer controller 2100 forwards the contents of therequest to the second computer 400 (process 1305).

[0115] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120in the second computer 400 performs processing for accepting the requestby making access to the total printer management information DB part4130 to write the order in the total printer management information DBpart 4130 (process 1306). Then, the total printer management serviceprocessing part 4120 reads out the requested programs and the requesteddata from a printer program/data part 4160 using a printer program/datamanagement part 4150 of FIG. 14, and transmits the requested programsand the requested data to the printer controller 2100 (process 1307). InFIG. 13, the reference character 1307-a indicates the requested programsand the requested data to be transmitted.

[0116] The printer controller 2100 in the printer 200 receives andstores the programs and data (process 1308). Then, the printercontroller 2100 transmits information on completion of the updating ofthe programs and the data in the process 1308 and the accompanyinginformation to the computer 300 (process 1309). The first computer 300displays the information on the completion of the updating of theprograms and the data and the accompanying information on a screen ofthe display using the user interface to notify the user requesting theupdating. The user of the first computer having been informed of thecompletion of the updating by the information on the screen of thedisplay transmits a document to the printer 200 in order to performprinting using the updated programs and the updated data. The printer200, having been instructed to print, performs printing of the documentusing the updated programs and the updated data in the printercontroller 2100 (process 1310).

[0117] A method of storing the updated programs and the updated data inthe system and a method of using the updated programs and the updateddata will now be described, referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG.5, and FIG. 6.

[0118] As shown in FIG. 14, the printer manufacturer stores printerprograms and data for all printers which it sells in the second computer400. Here, programs and data for printer controllers are stored. Morespecifically, the programs and the data for printer controllers arestored in the printer program/data part 4160 and are managed by theprinter program/data management part 4150.

[0119] The printer program/data part 4160 is installed in the secondarymemory device 532 of FIG. 5. The printer program/data management part4150 in the second computer 400 is stored in the secondary memory device532 as a program and is read out to the RAM memory 511 to be executed.

[0120] Referring to FIG. 6, the programs and the data for the printercontroller 2100 are stored in the secondary memory device 605 in theprocess 1308. Then, the programs and the data for the printer controller2100 are read out from the secondary memory device 605 to the RAM memory60A at the time of initializing the printer controller 2100 and areused. The programs and the data read out to the RAM memory 60A areplaced in each of the processing part of the spool control part 2130,the print processing part 2140, the engine control part 2150, the firstcommunication part 2110, and the individual printer management part 2120of FIG. 2 so as to be executed.

[0121] The programs and the data read out to the RAM memory 511 arestored in the print processing part 2140 (particularly in the drawingpart 2141) to be used.

[0122] The same result can be obtained even if the above embodiment ischanged as follows. Although the second computer 400 proposes theupdating of the programs and the data to the user of the first computer300 through the printer controller 2100 in the fourth embodiment, it ispossible for the second computer 400 to propose the updating of theprograms and the data directly to the user of the first computer 300.

[0123] According to the fourth embodiment, there are the followingeffects.

[0124] (1) Updating of the programs and the data are performed throughthe network. Therefore, it is not necessary for the printer manufacturerto prepare media, such as floppy disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, and thelike, which are necessary in the conventional system. Further, theprinter manufacturer does not need to bear the transportation cost ofthe media, as is required in the conventional system.

[0125] (2) The proposal for updating the programs and the data can betransmitted from the printer manufacturer to the printer user by networkcommunication without using mail or facsimile, which is different fromthe conventional system. Therefore, the mailing cost and facsimile cost(cost for paper and so on) can be substantially reduced.

[0126] A fifth embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 15 and FIG. 2, FIG.3, FIG. 5, and FIG. 14.

[0127] It is assumed that the printer manufacturer has updated programsand data for using the printer 200 in the first computer 300. Theprograms are utility programs for using the printer 200, and examples ofthe utility programs are a printer logic driver for basic software and aprinter logic driver for the personal computer. The printer logic driveris sometimes referred to simply as a printer driver, and corresponds tothe part indicated by the reference character 3130 in FIG. 3. Otherexamples of the utility programs are (a) a print command convertingprogram, (b) a spool control instruction program, and (c) a printermanagement reference/instruction program. The programs (a), (b), and (c)correspond to the parts respectively indicated by the referencecharacters 3140, 3150, and 3160 in FIG. 3. Examples of the data are fontdata, a solid black pattern, and a line pattern which are installed inthe first computer 300 and used in the printer 200.

[0128] Thus, the printer manufacturer registers and stores updatedprograms and updated data for the first computer 300 in the secondcomputer 400, which manages all the printers of the manufacturer(process 1501).

[0129] Then, the second computer 400 transmits information for proposingupdating of the programs and the data for the first computer 300 to theprinter controller 2100 (process 1502). The information includes anexplanation of the contents of the updating and a recommendation foraccepting the updating, and a method of requesting the updating. Then,the printer controller 2100 transmits the contents of the proposal tothe first computer 300 (process 1503).

[0130] Then, the first computer 300 transmits information concerning therequest for updating to the printer controller 2100 in order to requestupdating of the programs and the data for the first computer 300(process 1504). The request is made at the time when the user of thefirst computer 300 finds the information on updating corresponding tothe information of the process 1503 on a screen of the first computer300 or the like. Then, the printer controller 2100 forwards the contentsof the request to the second computer 400 (process 1505).

[0131] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120in the second computer 400 performs processing for accepting the requestby making access to the total printer management information DB part4130 to write the order in the total printer management information DBpart 4130 (process 1506). Then, the total printer management serviceprocessing part 4120 reads out the requested programs and the requesteddata from a printer program/data part 4160 using the printerprogram/data management part 4150 of FIG. 14, and transmits therequested programs and the requested data to the printer controller 2100(process 1507). In FIG. 15, the reference character 1507-a indicates therequested programs and the requested data to be transmitted.

[0132] The printer controller 2100 in the printer 200 receives andstores the programs and the data, and transmits the programs and thedata to the first computer 300 (process 1508). Then, the first computer300 receives the programs and the data for the first computer, andupdates and stores the programs and the data in the secondary memorydevice (process 1509).

[0133] The first computer 300 displays the information on the completionof updating of the programs and the data and the accompanyinginformation on a screen of the display using the user interface tonotify the user requesting the updating. The user of the first computer,having been informed of the completion of the updating by theinformation on the screen of the display, instructs the printer 200 toperform printing using the updated programs and the updated data(process 1510).

[0134] A method of storing the updated programs and the updated data inthe system and a method of using the updated programs and the updateddata will now be described, referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, andFIG. 5.

[0135] As described previously with reference to FIG. 14, the printermanufacturer stores printer programs and data for all printers which itsells in the second computer 400. Here, programs and data for the firstcomputer 300 are stored. More specifically, the programs and the datafor printer controllers are stored in the printer program/data part 4160and are managed by the printer program/data management part 4150.

[0136] The functions of the printer program/data part 4160 and theprinter program/data management part 4150 in the second computer 400 arethe same as in the case of the fourth embodiment. The updated programsand the updated data for the first computer are stored in the secondarymemory device 532 of FIG. 5 in the process 1509. Then, the programs andthe data for the first computer 300 are read out from the secondarymemory device 532 to the RAM memory 511 at the time of initializing thefirst computer 300 and are used. The programs and the data read out tothe RAM memory 511 are placed in each of the processing part of theprinter logic driver part 3130, the spool control instruction part 3150,and the printer management reference/instruction part 3160 of FIG. 3 tobe executed. The programs and the data read out to the RAM memory 511are stored in the first OS kernel part 3120, the printer logic driverpart 3130, and the application program part 3140 to be used.

[0137] The same result can be obtained even if the above embodiment ischanged as follows.

[0138] Although the second computer 400 proposes the updating of theprograms and the data to the user of the first computer 300 through theprinter controller 2100 in the fifth embodiment, it is possible for thesecond computer 400 to propose the updating of the programs and the datadirectly to the user of the first computer 300.

[0139] According to the fifth embodiment, there are the followingeffects.

[0140] (1) Updating of the programs and the data is performed throughthe network. Therefore, it is not necessary for the printer manufacturerto prepare media, such as floppy disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, and thelike, which are necessary in the conventional system. Further, theprinter manufacturer does not need to bear the transportation cost ofthe media, as is required in the conventional system.

[0141] (2) The proposal for updating the programs and the data can betransmitted from the printer manufacturer to the printer user by networkcommunication without using mail or facsimile, which is different fromthe conventional system. Therefore, the mailing cost and facsimile cost(cost for paper and so on) can be substantially reduced.

[0142] A sixth embodiment of the processing procedure according to theinvention will now be described, referring to FIG. 16 and FIG. 2, FIG.3, FIG. 5, and FIG. 14.

[0143] Similarly to the fifth embodiment, this embodiment is used forupdating programs and data for using the printer with the first computer300.

[0144] However, in this embodiment, the first computer 300 receives theprograms and the data directly from the second computer 400, not throughthe printer 200. The contents of the programs and the data for the firstcomputer 300 to be updated are the same as those in the fifthembodiment.

[0145] The processing procedure in the sixth embodiment will now bedescribed, referring to FIG. 16.

[0146] The printer manufacturer registers and stores updated programsand updated data for the first computer 300 in the second computer 400which manages all the printers of the manufacturer (process 1601). Then,the second computer 400 transmits information for proposing updating ofthe programs and the data for the first computer 300 to the firstcomputer 300 (process 1602). The information includes an explanation ofthe contents of the updating and a recommendation for acceptance of theupdating, and a method of requesting the updating.

[0147] Then, the first computer 300 transmits information concerning therequest for updating to the second computer 400 in order to requestupdating of the programs and the data for the first computer 300(process 1603). The request is made at the time when the user of thefirst computer 300 finds the information on updating corresponding tothe information of the process 1602 on a screen of the first computer300 or the like.

[0148] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120in the second computer 400 performs processing for acceptance of therequest by making access to the total printer management information DBpart 4130 to write the order in the total printer management informationDB part 4130 (process 1604).

[0149] Then, the total printer management service processing part 4120reads out the requested programs and the requested data from a printerprogram/data part 4160 using the printer program/data management part4150 of FIG. 14, and transmits the requested programs and the requesteddata to the first computer 300 (process 1605).

[0150] The first computer 300 receives the programs and the data, andupdates and stores the programs and the data in the secondary memorydevice (process 1606). The first computer 300 displays the informationconcerning the completion of updating of the programs and the data andthe accompanying information on a screen of the display using the userinterface to notify the user requesting the updating. The user of thefirst computer, having been informed of the completion of the updatingby the information on the screen of the display, instructs the printer200 to perform printing using the updated programs and the updated data(process 1607).

[0151] In FIG. 14, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 5, the method of storing theupdated programs and the updated data in the system and the method ofusing the updated programs and the updated data are the same as in thefifth embodiment.

[0152] The sixth embodiment can also attain the same effects as thefifth embodiment.

[0153] According to the present invention, when a user wants to knowabout a method of coping with printer trouble or an advanced method ofusing a printer, the user can automatically make access to the data basein a service center of the printer manufacturer and obtain a reply to aninquiry concerning the computer only by making an inquiry to the printerat hand through the computer at hand usually used by the user.Therefore, a problem in the conventional technology can be solved andthe usability of the printer can be improved.

[0154] Further, according to the present invention, even if the userdoes not understand the status of use of various kinds of consumablearticles for a complex printer represented by a laser printer, theprinting system automatically understands the status of use of variouskinds of consumable articles and the user can place an order based onsuch information to the service center of the printer manufacturer.Therefore, a problem in the conventional technology can be solved andthe usability of the printer can be improved. Since there is no need todispatch a service man dedicated to servicing the printer from theprinter manufacturer to the place of the user, it is possible for theuser to reduce the maintenance cost, and for the printer manufacture toreduce its personnel expenses.

[0155] Furthermore, according to the present invention, even if the userdoes not understand the status of use and operating status of variouskinds of replaceable parts for a complex printer represented by a laserprinter, the printing system automatically understands the status ofsuch parts and can place an order to the service center of the printermanufacturer based on such information. Therefore, a problem in theconventional technology can be solved and the usability of the printercan be improved. Since there is no need to dispatch a service mandedicated to servicing the printer from the printer manufacturer to theplace of the user, it is possible for the user to reduce the maintenancecost, and for the printer manufacture to reduce its personnel expenses.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing system comprising a network, and afirst computer, a second computer and a printer connected to saidnetwork, wherein the first computer instructs the printer to print; saidprinter being composed of a printer controller and a printer engine,said printer controller having an individual printer management part formanaging said printer and an individual printer information DB part;said second computer having a total printer management serviceprocessing part for managing a plurality of printers including saidprinter and a total printer management information DB part; the printercontroller receiving information on occurrence of a trouble in theprinter engine and contents of the trouble; based on the receiving, thefirst computer receiving said information on occurrence of the troublein the printer engine and contents of the trouble from the printercontroller; the first computer inquiring a method of coping with saidtrouble from the printer controller; the printer controller transmittingthe same contents as said inquiry to the second computer; the totalprinter management service processing part of the second computerretrieving and obtaining a reply to the inquiry from the total printermanagement information DB part, then transmitting said reply to theprinter; the printer transmitting said reply to the first computer.